The present invention relates to a beverage dispensing system and more particularly relates to a plurality of modular volumetric valves for use with a post-mix beverage dispensing system.
Beverage dispensers of various types are well known in the art. Typically, a beverage dispenser mixes a supply of a concentrate, such as syrup for soft drinks, and a supply of a diluent, such as soda water or plain water. The concentrate and the diluent are usually dispensed simultaneously through a mixing nozzle into a beverage cup. Until recently, most beverage dispensers included manually adjusted fill and/or flow controls. By maintaining consistent concentrate and diluent flow rates with varying flowing pressures, these flow controls ensure that the proper mixture ratio between the concentrate and the diluent is used. The proper mixture ratio is essential for the dispenser to serve beverages with consistent quality and taste. These manual flow controls, however, over time will inevitably xe2x80x9cdriftxe2x80x9d out of proper adjustment, requiring revalidation and readjustment.
The introduction of xe2x80x9cvolumetricxe2x80x9d dispensing valves largely eliminated the concern over xe2x80x9cdriftxe2x80x9d or the maladjustment of the mixture ratios in a beverage dispenser. A volumetric dispensing valve is generally a unitary device with a diluent circuit, a concentrate circuit, and an electronic control board. The diluent circuit includes a flow meter to determine the flow rate of the diluent during a given time interval. By xe2x80x9cflow ratexe2x80x9d, we mean the volume of the diluent. Data from the flow meter is relayed to the electronic control board. The electronic control board, in turn, processes the data, calculates the diluent flow rate, and directs the concentrate circuit to measure out a predetermined volume of the concentrate for the given volume of the diluent. By electronically measuring the diluent dispensed and injecting the correct volume of the concentrate into the diluent, a preset mixture ratio can be maintained with little need for adjustment. Such a volumetric dispensing valve is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,926 entitled xe2x80x9cBeverage Dispensing Valve and Method.xe2x80x9d The Coca-Cola Company, the assignee of the present application, owns this patent. The disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,926 is incorporated herein by reference.
By way of example, FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a known volumetric system 10 as used in a typical post-mix beverage dispenser 20 of FIG. 2. In this example, the beverage dispenser 20 has six (6) volumetric dispensing valves 30. Each dispensing valve 30 includes a diluent circuit 40, a concentrate circuit 50, an electronic control board 60, and a mixing nozzle 70. The electronic control board 60 on each dispensing valve 30 can be programmed to maintain a range of diluent/concentrate ratios corresponding to a wide variety of beverages or beverage flavors. In the example above, each dispensing valve 30 is connected by a diluent supply line 80 and a concentrate supply line 90 such that a total of twelve (12) incoming lines 95 are available. The beverage dispenser 20 therefore requires six (6) diluent lines 80 and six (6) concentrate lines 90 to offer up to six (6) different types of beverages or beverage flavors.
One drawback with the known volumetric valves is that their original acquisition cost is typically higher than known manually adjusted valves. Although providing a consistent mixture ratio inevitably saves maintenance costs over the working life of the valve, the requirements of having multiple diluent circuits, multiple concentrate circuits, and particularly multiple electronic control boards results in a higher initial acquisition cost. This higher acquisition cost may complicate the desires of a beverage dispenser owner or operator to have one or more beverage dispensers with as many different types of beverages or beverage flavors as possible. Further, beverage dispenser owners and operators not only desire beverage dispensers that provide as many different types of beverages and beverage flavors as possible, the dispensers also must be compact and take up as little counter space as possible.
In other words, customers desire the conflicting goals of more beverage choices, in as little counter space as possible, for as low a cost as possible. There is a need, therefore, for a beverage dispensing system that provides for these diverse goals.
The present invention provides a beverage dispensing system for dispensing a variety of beverages from a plurality of beverage concentrate sources. The beverage dispensing system includes a nozzle, a modular diluent valve for supplying diluent to the nozzle, a plurality of modular volumetric concentrate valves each in fluid communication with one of the beverage concentrate sources, and an electronic control board. The electronic control board determines the diluent flow rate through the modular diluent valve and instructs one of the modular volumetric concentrate valves to supply a predetermined volume of beverage concentrate to the nozzle based upon the diluent flow rate.
Specific embodiments of the present invention include using a flow meter with a sensor in the modular diluent valve to determine the diluent flow rate therethrough. The flow meter is operably connected to the electronic control board. The modular diluent valve also may include a solenoid to control the flow of diluent therethrough. The operation of the solenoid is controlled by the electronic control board. The modular diluent valve may supply carbonated water or noncarbonated water to the nozzle.
The plurality of modular volumetric concentrate valves each includes a metering device. The metering device has a piston positioned within a chamber with a first end and a second end. The modular volumetric concentrate valves also include a first and a second solenoid valve. The first solenoid valve is in fluid communication with the first end of the chamber while the second solenoid valve is in fluid communication with the second end of the chamber. Operation of the solenoid valves is controlled by the electronic control board so as to regulate the flow of concentrate into and out of the metering device. The electronic control board also may monitor the total volume of concentrate dispensed by the modular volumetric concentrate valves and maintain other types of use and inventory information for the system as a whole.
In another embodiment of the present invention, one of the beverage concentrate sources may be a beverage flavoring source and a second one of the plurality of modular volumetric concentrate valves may be in fluid communication with this beverage flavoring source. The electronic control board may instruct the second one of the modular volumetric concentrate valves to supply a predetermined volume of beverage flavoring to the nozzle. The concentrate and the diluent are then dispensed as described above.
A further embodiment of present invention may be a beverage dispensing system that provides a beverage with an intermediate level of carbonation. Such a system includes an electronic control board, a nozzle, a first modular diluent valve for supplying carbonated water to the nozzle, and a second modular diluent valve for supplying noncarbonated water to the nozzle. Operation of the modular diluent valves is controlled by the electronic control board such that the diluent valves are pulsed on and off. The system further includes one or more modular volumetric concentrate valves for supplying concentrate to the nozzle. The volumetric concentrate valves are in fluid communication with one of the plurality of beverage concentrate sources. The electronic control board determines the diluent flow rate through both of the diluent valves and instructs one of the volumetric concentrate valves to supply a predetermined volume of beverage concentrate to the nozzle based upon the diluent flow rate.
A further embodiment of the present invention provides a dispenser for supplying a beverage selection from a plurality of beverage options. The dispenser includes an electronic control board, a plurality of nozzles, and a plurality of modular diluent valves for supplying diluent to the nozzles. Operation of the modular diluent valves is controlled by the electronic control board so as to activate one of the modular diluent valves in response to the beverage selection. The dispenser further includes a plurality of modular volumetric concentrate valves for supplying beverage concentrate to the nozzles. Operation of the modular volumetric concentrate valves is controlled by the electronic control board such that the modular volumetric concentrate valve that corresponds to the beverage selection is activated. The electronic control board determines the diluent flow rate through the activated modular diluent valve and instructs the activated volumetric concentrate valve to supply a predetermined volume of beverage concentrate to one of the nozzles based upon the diluent flow rate so as to provide the beverage selection.
The method of the present invention provides a beverage selection from a beverage dispenser having a plurality of beverage concentrate sources, one or more nozzles, one or more modular diluent valves, and a plurality of modular concentrate valves. The method includes the steps of activating one of the modular diluent valves in response to the beverage selection so as to provide a supply of diluent to one of the nozzles, determining the diluent flow rate through the activated modular diluent valve, activating the modular volumetric concentrate valves that corresponds to the beverage selection, and instructing the activated volumetric concentrate valve to supply a predetermined volume of beverage concentrate to the nozzle based upon the diluent flow rate.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved beverage dispensing system.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved volumetric beverage dispensing valve and system.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a beverage dispensing system with multiple concentrate circuits using a single diluent circuit.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a modular volumetric beverage dispensing system that is reasonably priced as compared to known beverage dispensing systems.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a beverage dispensing system that is as compact as possible while providing beverages and beverage flavors from multiple sources.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a beverage dispensing system with replaceable and interchangeable concentrate and diluent circuits.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon review of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, when taken in conjunction with the drawings and the appended claims.